By Fall. My season. The light is changing — lower, warmer, golden in the mornings and amber in the evenings — and the foothills are starting their transformation, the first hints of yellow appearing in the cottonwoods along the river. I love this transition. I love the way fall in Idaho doesn't announce itself with a bang but with a whisper — a cool morning, a changed leaf, a shift in the air that says: the hardest season is behind you, and the most beautiful one is beginning.
I've been reflecting on where I am. September 2018 — two years since the diagnosis, a year and a half since chemo ended, six months since reconstruction started. The math of survival: subtract the cancer, add the recovery, multiply by stubbornness, divide by the number of times I cried on a kitchen floor. The result: one woman, standing, cooking, alive.
The implant exchange surgery is scheduled for October 15. The last surgery. The final stage of reconstruction. After that, I'm done. No more operating rooms. No more hospital gowns. No more drains or drips or the beeping of machines. Just my body, rebuilt, and the life I'm living in it.
Mason is thriving in second grade. Mrs. Chen is giving him enrichment reading, which means he's reading at a fourth-grade level now and talking about it at dinner with vocabulary that sometimes sends me to the dictionary. Last week he used the word "hypothesis" correctly at the dinner table. He's seven. I am raising a person who uses "hypothesis" while eating mac and cheese. I don't know whether this is wonderful or terrifying. Both. Always both.
I made the first pot of chili this season. The annual ritual, the calendar marker that says fall is here. Ground beef, kidney beans, tomatoes (from my canned jars — summer meeting fall in a pot), onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin. Slow simmered for two hours. Served with cornbread — Mom's recipe, cast iron, no sugar. The house smelled like September and I stood over the pot stirring and thought: three years. Three falls. Three first pots of chili. And each one tastes a little different, because I'm a little different, and the food changes when the cook changes, and the cook has changed enormously.
The chili I made that first September was its own kind of ceremony — but it’s this Kansas City Steak Soup that has become the recipe I reach for when I want something that feels like the same ritual in a slightly different voice: ground beef, broth that deepens with time, vegetables that soften into something better than they were. It’s a pot that rewards patience, which feels appropriate right now. If you’re in a season where you need to stand over something warm and stir and just let it work, this is your recipe.
Kansas City Steak Soup
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (or diced sirloin)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups beef broth
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, green beans)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Brown the beef. In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef until fully cooked, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain excess fat and set the beef aside.
- Build the base. In the same pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened and the onion is translucent.
- Make the roux. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir well to coat. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, to eliminate the raw flour taste.
- Add the broth. Slowly pour in the beef broth, stirring continuously to prevent lumps. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add remaining ingredients. Return the browned beef to the pot. Stir in the diced tomatoes, frozen mixed vegetables, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Simmer low and slow. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for 45–60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soup has thickened and the flavors have melded together.
- Taste and serve. Adjust seasoning as needed. Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread or cast-iron cornbread alongside.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 390 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 820mg